Tag: Tucson Roadrunners

(Photo credit San Jose Barracuda) Montana Onyebuchi (79) throws down with Tucson Roadrunner Ryan McGregor (16) in the first period in Tucson.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

On the road the San Jose Barracuda did battle with the Tucson Roadrunners and came out on the losing end by a final of 6-3.

The first period took a minute for either team to find a goal but at the 10:33 mark William Eklund got his third goal of the season on the power play. Jasper Weatherby and Ryan Merkley both got apples on the goal as well.

The Eklund goal seemed to awaken something in the offense for the Barracuda as less than a minute later Scott Reedy during a power play potted his fourth of the season. Thomas Bordeleau and Danil Guschin contributed with assists on the goal.

Seeing an opportunity to add on to the lead Andrew Agozzino put the biscuit in the basket for this third goal of the season. Montana Onyebuchi contributed the lone assist.

Looking for a response in an otherwise dominant Barracuda period Adam Cracknell did just that scoring his fourth goal of the season. Bringing the game back to a 3-1 score Nathan Smith and Michael Carcone got the assists.

At the end of the second period the shots were 11-5 in favor of the Tucson.

Similar to the first period the second also took a minute to find a goal but that silence would be broken by Carcone making the score 3-2. Jan Jenik and Jean Sebastien Dea both got assists on the power play goal.

The power play continued to click for the Roadrunners as Milos Kelemen scored his fourth goal of the season. The assists going to Ben McCartney and Laurent Dauphin.

That would be all of the scoring in the first period with the shots finishing in favor of Tucson at 8-6.

In the third period the collapse began at the 12:29 mark with Keleman getting his second goal of the game. Victor Soderstrom and Carcone both got assists on the goal.

Adding on to the momentum for the Tucson Nathan Smith scored his third goal of the season. Connor Timmins and Vladislav Kolyachonok both contributed to the goal.

In desperation the Barracuda pulled their goalie to try to bring the game back to even.

It would not work though as Keleman would get the hat trick on the empty net. Sebastian Dea would get the lone assist on the goal.

On the night starting goalie for San Jose Aaron Dell would finish the night with a 5.22 GAA and 0.853 SV%

The Barracuda’s next game will be against Tucson again at Tucson Arena Sunday at 3 pm PST

San Jose Barracuda gets the 4-0 shutout as Barracuda players celebrate against the Tucson Roadrunners at Tucson Arena in Tucson on Wed Mar 16, 2022 (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

By Len Shapiro

The San Jose Barracuda (19-29-2) get a 4-0 shutout behind the mastery work of Barracuda goaltender Alex Stalock who saved 40 shots over the Tucson Roadrunners (17-28-4) at Tucson Arena. San Jose has dominated the Roadrunners this season beating them in three straight games and now are 13-2 in goals scored for the season against them.

The Barracuda have now shutout the Roadrunners twice for the season. Stalock who played with the Barracuda parent club the NHL San Jose Sharks and got roughed up by the Nashville Predators on Sat Mar 5th 8-0 looked and looks like he turned over a new leaf with the 4-0 shutout on Wednesday night.

Stalock last played with the Barracuda six years ago on Feb 6, 2016 and what a way to make a comeback with a shutout to start his return with the team. This is the 12th career shutout in the AHL for Stalock. The Barracuda got scoring help from Jake McGrew who scored twice for his 10th and 11th goals of the year.

McGrew is finding the back end of the net scoring three times in his last two games. The Barracuda’s Montana Onyebuchi got down with the Roadrunners this was his ninth fight of the season and Onyebuchi leads rookies in the AHL in fighting majors and penalty minutes with 99.

Evan Weinger’s goal on Wednesday was his tenth and needs one more goal to tie his career best for a season at ten. Weinger scored tenth goal just 57 seconds into the game. Lane Pederson scored his second goal in two games. Pederson scoring against his former team the Roadrunners making this his fourth goal in eight games.

The Barracuda and Roadrunners play game two of this three game series on Friday Mar 18th at 7:00 pm PDT at Tucson Arena.

San Jose Barracuda John Leonard acknowledges his teammates and fans after scoring a goal one of three to make a hat trick against the Tucson Roadrunners at SAP Center in San Jose on Sun Mar 6, 2022 (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE–John Leonard recorded his first ever hat trick as the San Jose Barracuda routed the Tucson Roadrunners 6-2 on Sunday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose have won two out of its past three games. Tucson has lost four games in a row.

Tucson (17-26-3-1) drew first blood early in the first period. Hudson Fasching made a cross rink pass over to Michael Carcone who rifled a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Emond for his team leading 23rd goal of the season at the 3:42 mark.

San Jose (17-28-2-0) answered back at the 7:40 mark when John Leonard scooped up a loose puck just outside the Roadrunners crease. Leonard lifted a backhander over the stick of Roadrunners goalie Ivan Prosvetov for his 14th goal of the season.

Leonard has a goal in three consecutive games.

San Jose gained its first lead on the power play midway through the second period. Leonard’s shot from the left wing caromed over to Lane Pederson on the right side. The former Roadrunner forward cleaned up the rebound into an open net for his first goal in a Barracuda jersey at the 9:23 mark.

Tucson scored the equalizer early to start the third period. A shot from the point Matt Foley sneaked it’s way off the post into the net for Foley’s first goal of the season at the 2:26 mark.

San Jose answered back less than three minutes later. Dillon Hamailuk found a trailing Nick Merkely in the slot and Merkely buried a wrist shot past Prosvetov for his 10th goal of the season at the 5:07 mark.

The Barracuda scored an insurance with their second power play goal of the game. Merkley found Joachim Blichfeld near the right side if the net. Blichfeld’s one timer bounced off Prosvetov and into the back of the net for his 17th goal of the season at the 12:26 mark

San Jose sealed the deal with 3:04 remaining in the final frame when Leonard scored his second goal of the night, a one timer past Prosvetov for his 15th goal of the season.

Leonard finished off his hat trick with a nice move to get Prosvetov to go down before sliding the puck underneath him for 16th goal of the season with 55 seconds left in the game.

Emond finished the evening stopping 36 of the 38 shots he faced to earn the victory. Prosvetov made 28 saves on 34 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-4 on the power play. Tucson was 0-for-4.

This was the first Barracuda game that has featured two women as on ice officials. Samantha Hiller served as one of the referees and Kirsten Welsh served as one of the lines persons.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

1) Leonard 2) Emond 3) Merkley

The game featured the second Paws & Pucks promotion where fans were able to bring their dogs to the game. It also was a Hockey Is For Everybody night.

UP NEXT: San Jose goes on the road to take on the Ontario Reign on Wdnesday 3/9 at 7:00pm at Toyota Arena.

The San Jose Barracuda goaltender Sam Harvey got a shutout win over the Tucson Roadrunners at SAP Center in San Jose on Fri Jan 14, 2022 ( file image from Chasing the Puck)

by Marko Ukalovicv

SAN JOSE —Quality over quantity.

Goalie Sam Harvey has produced shutouts in 66% of his starts. His outstanding performance led the San Jose Barracuda to a 3-0 shutout victory over the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday evening at SAP Center.

Harvey (2-1-0) was perfect stopping all 28 shots he faced, which included having to help kill off a double-minor penalty to Jake McGrew with 4:25 left in the game, to earn his second shutout of the season (and second of his AHL career) in just three starts.

The 23-year-old native of Alma, Quebec played aggressive, challenging the Roadrunner shooters and did not give up many second chance rebounds in his strongest game of the season.

“I think I needed that game after what happened last game,” Harvey said. “I got pulled after (giving up) five goals. For me, I was just trying to get back to my game, play well and the boys helped me (out) in front as well.”

San Jose has won two out its last three games and split the series. Tucson has lost four out of its last five games.

San Jose (13-16-1-0) drew first blood halfway through the first period. McGrew sent a rink wide pass that caromed off the boards over to Evan Weinger who rifled home a one-timer top shelf past Roadrunner’s goalie Josef Korenar for his sixth goal of the season at the 10:49 mark.

The Barracuda doubled its lead on the power play late in the opening frame. Nick Cicek’s slapshot from the point caromed off the backboards out in front where Jayden Halbgewachs chipped it out in front of the crease. Scott Reedy buried the point-blank shot into an empty net for his team leading 16th goal of the season at the 16:02 mark.

“A lot of it’s timing,” said Reedy on his consistent scoring. “Boxing out offensively. I kind of just know when the puck is coming in. That’s been happening a lot lately.”

Tucson (12-12-2-1) only managed four shots on goal in the first period as San Jose had the ice tilted in its favor in the opening 20 minutes.

The middle frame was scoreless as San Jose out shot Tucson eight to six in the second period.

San Jose clamped down defensively in the third period and did repeat what happened on Wednesday night when they blew a third period lead against Tucson.

“We really should be sitting right now with three wins in a row,” said Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer. “We got that one back, which is good, but (when) you lose a game, you learn a lesson hopefully.”

San Jose received some insurance when they scored their league leading eighth short-handed goal early in the third period. John Leonard poked the puck out the ‘Cuda zone off the faceoff. On the breakaway, his shot went through the five-hole of Korenar as it trickled into the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:59 mark.

The unassisted goal was Leonard’s second short-handed goal of the season.

Korenar (2-4-1) made 21 saves on 24 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-3 on the power play. Tucson was 0-for-5.

Cicek was hit in the face with a shot from the point late in the second period.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Harvey 2) Reedy 3) Weinger.

UP NEXT: San Jose take on the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday 1/15 at 7:00pm at Mechanics Bank Arena.

The San Jose Barracuda drop the first of two games on Wed Jan 11, 2022 against the Tucson Roadrunners at the SAP Center in San Jose on Wed Jan 11, 2022 (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — When you don’t play for a full 60 minutes, it usually comes back to bite you.

The Tucson Roadrunners scored three unanswered goals in the third period for a 4-3 comeback victory on Wednesday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose have lost two of its past three games. Tucson snapped its three-game losing streak.

The game marked the return for former Barracuda goalie Josef Korenar who played in his first game at The Tank in a visiting uniform with the Roadrunners.

It also marked the first game back for Scott Reedy and Jayden Halbgewachs for San Jose. They had been up with the Sharks the past week. They were on a line with John Leonard put together by ‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer.

San Jose (12-16-1-0) drew first blood early in the first period. Jake McGrew sent a puck on net that bounced out in front of the crease. Kyle Topping’s chance was stopped by Korenar but Zachary Gallant sneaked in and chipped the puck just underneath the crossbar for his first goal of the season at the 4:12 mark.

It was Gallant’s second career AHL and his first in 42 games when he scored his first back on March 6th, 2021, which also happens to be his birthday.

Tucson (12-11-2-1) answered back with a power play goal late in the opening frame. Matias Maccelli sent a pass over to Jen Jenik in the right slot. Jenik snapped home a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk for his seventh goal of the season at the 16:16 mark.

The Barracuda regained the lead with 26 seconds left in the first period. After a battle along the corner boards, Kyle Topping fed a pass back to the point Artemi Kniazev. The 20-year defenseman skated in, made a move at the left faceoff circle and fired a wrist shot to the far side for his career AHL goal.

“I saw the guy dropping (down) on me (I got) some open ice and took the shot,” said Kniazev. “Obviously it’s nice to score my first pro goal but it didn’t help to win the game, so it means nothing.

Things became chippy in the second period. There were two fights in a span of less than two minutes. After the second fight between Patrick Holway and Blake Speers, both teams begin to push and shove each other in the neutral zone near the teams’ benches long after the whistle had blown.

Tucson evened the game with seven minutes left in third period. Hudson Fasching made a nice a move around a ‘Cuda defender at the left point, skated in and centered a backhand pass over to Maccelli who buried a one-time from point-blank range for his ninth goal of the season.

The Roadrunners gained its first lead 68 seconds later. Maccelli sent a back pass to Cameron Hebig who beat Melnichuk to the short side for his sixth goal of the season at the 14:08 mark.

“We can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot,” Sommer said. “You’re not going to keep coming back from these all the time. We had played up to that point, pretty good. Again, we gave up too much trying to protect the lead.”

Tucson sealed the game with their second power play goal with 1:23 left in the third period. Hudsom Elyniuk fed a pass over to Speers who buried a wrist shot to the short side past Melnichuk for his second goal of the season.

San Jose made it a one-goal game with 22 seconds left when Reedy scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season. Reedy cleaned up the rebound off a shot from the point by Nick Cicek.

Korenar finished the game stopping 20 of the 23 shots he faced to come back to haunt his old team in earning the victory. Melnichuk (7-7-0) made 18 saves on 22 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-4 on the power play. Tucson was 2-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Maccello 2) Kniazev 3) Jenik

San Jose is 16-12-3-2 all time against Tucson, including 9-6-1-1 on home ice.

Tucson has four of its last five games on the road.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Tucson conclude their two-games series on Friday 1/14 at 7:00pm at SAP Center.